This invention relates generally to containers and more particularly to a pill organizer with a collapsible drinking cup in the form of an integral, readily stowable unit.
Various pill organizers or dispensers have been disclosed in the patent literature and/or are commercially available. For example, In U.S. Pat. No. 4,572,376 (Wrennall) there is disclosed a dial pill box comprises a container having 28 arcuate storage compartments for pills and the like, a pair of lids, and a central pivot pin which pivotably holds together the container and the lids. The pivot pin enables the containers to be assembled by snapping the lids onto the container and over the pivot pin and to be disassembled by pinching together the resiliently bifurcated ends of the pivot pin and pushing these ends toward the lids and through their central holes. After removing both lids, a user can fill the container with a week's supply of pills, capsules, tablets, and the like of pharmaceuticals, vitamins, and/or minerals. The user can spin the upper lid independently of the lower lid in one direction, so that none of the four segment apertures in the upper lid coincide with the access sector of the lower lid, whereby the dial pill box is in position for storage and transportation. By spinning both lids together in the opposite direction, the user can place the access sector in the lower lid over a selected storage sector, having four storage compartments, which is marked for the desired day of the week. By then spinning the upper lid again in the first direction, the user can spirally place a selected segment aperture, corresponding to the selected time of day, over the access sector and then remove the pills therefrom.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,762,199 (Aguilera) there is disclosed a daily pocket pill organizer. That organizer is in the form of a compartmented cylindrical container having a removable snap-on cap and plural pie-shaped pill-receiving compartments. The cap is two-piece member, with each piece having a top and a bottom side. One of the two pieces is a rotatable "covering" disc having a small triangular opening and a pin protruding downward from a central position on its bottom side. The second cap piece is a wheel-like member disposed under the covering member and having spokes radiating outwardly from an apertured center. The spokes form triangular or pie-shaped openings therebetween. The pin of the covering member extends through a central opening in the underlying wheel-like member so that the rotatable disc can be rotated to any angular orientation to bring its triangular shaped opening over a respective one of the openings in the spoke-like member. The openings provide fixed access to plural pie-shaped compartments of the container. The two-piece cap is removable and can be opened at one side by release of a hinge.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,322,166 (Crowther) there is disclosed a pill storage and dispensing container has a lower storage unit with a plurality of radially arranged individual pill storage compartments. An upper storage unit positioned directly above and nestled within the lower unit also has a plurality of similarly arranged storage compartments as well as one bottomless compartment. A top cover is positioned directly above the upper storage unit, and a dispensing opening in the cover is arranged to communicate with the various compartments in the upper unit as well as with the bottomless compartment and the various compartments of the lower storage unit as the cover is rotated relative to the storage units. A hub shaft releasably interconnects the upper and lower storage units and the top cover while allowing the storage units and cover to rotate relative to on another. Twenty eight individual storage compartments are provided in a compact container which enables pills to be dispensed four times per day over a seven day period.
While all of the aforementioned devices are generally suitable for their intended purposes, each suffers from one or more of the following disadvantages, complexity of construction, expense, and ease of use. Moreover, all of the aforementioned prior art devices will require the user to provide a cup, glass or other source of water or other liquid to enable the person to take the pill(s) held in the container.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,940,138 (Hornstein) there is disclosed a container for particular use as a first aid kit. The container comprises a tubular member which has a collapsible drinking cup forming one end closure of the container. In particular, a collapsible drinking cup has a base with a circular rim to which a plurality of annular cup segments of graduated diameter are connected. These segments may be moved with respect to one another to an extended position to form a hollow cup extending upward from the base. A cover or lid having an annular flange is arranged to be mounted on the container to enclose the collapsed cup. The cover includes an annular wall centered on its inner surface to form a pill container. Pills are retained in the container by a removable cap releasably mounted thereon.
While the device of the Hornstein patent may be generally suitable for its intended purposes, it still leaves much to be desired from the standpoints of functionality and ease of use.